


Just Like A Video Game

by Katzbac



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, i love writing kenma so much, platonic kuroken, the driving school au nobody asked for, the fact that kenma's mom is a tag makes me happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:26:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katzbac/pseuds/Katzbac
Summary: Kenma hated driving.It wasn’t the actual driving. Nor did his hatred stem from the amount of noise and commotion, the traffic that made up a road with hundreds of other cars holding people that just so happened to have somewhere to be that day. No, Kenma hated how much attention driving required.But he was good at it.





	Just Like A Video Game

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh can you tell I'm stalling from writing my multi-chaptered fics? They are coming soon, I promise. But this fic was born from me taking driving lessons from my dad last year and I just got my license this summer so I thought I should upload this now.

Kenma hated driving.

 

It wasn’t the actual driving. Nor did his hatred stem from the amount of noise and commotion, the  _ traffic  _ that made up a road with hundreds of other cars holding people that just so happened to have somewhere to be that day. No, Kenma hated how much attention driving required.

 

But he was  _ good _ at it.

 

Focus, mind-to-hand control, adequate perception, an overly aware attitude, Kenma had all of those attributes and he honed the skills detrimental for driving years before this summer: the season his mother decided that it would be a good idea to toss him into a driving school. For the entire summer. 

 

Takeda was alright as a driving teacher, or as any teacher really. He had just enough enthusiasm to give off the impression that he knew what he was doing while not being annoying.

Kenma's mother was impressed. (not Kenma; he was not impressed with anything in the slightest.) Like every Wednesday, Kenma’s mom happily dropped him off in the small but air-conditioned office and left him. 

 

It was hot, the city air was polluted and sticky, and on this particular day Takeda had hay fever. 

 

Great.

 

Just his luck too, especially since the only other instructor left was also most obnoxious teacher that was available. Or at least Kenma thought so. 

 

_ (‘Mom please don’t leave me here’ _ he silently begged but couldn’t actually be bothered to look up and say that out loud because holy smokes was that a shiny Lapras?!) 

 

The office was quiet save for a black-haired lady at the front desk clacking away really fast on a computer. She spared him a glance as he took a seat by the window, the sun shining harshly on the student driving cars. The seat he chose was perfect for comfortable gaming and Kenma quickly took advantage of that. He flipped open his 3DS and resumed his battle.

 

“M‘kay. Bye mom.” She shook her head and left, probably to go grocery shopping like she had planned beforehand. Kenma secretly hoped she would pick up some ice cream.

 

The ‘leftover’ instructor, Kuroo Tetsurou as his name was on the sign in sheet, was so  _ intimidating _ . From afar, his other students seemed to be physically pained as they walked back inside from the training cars, their faces were wrought with dread and fatigue and they looked like death as they trudged to sign themselves out of the class. Kenma had wanted nothing to do with it or Kuroo Tetsurou. But here he was. And there Kuroo came with his jet black hair gelled up to the nines. Kenma paid him no mind, his attention was attached to his new shiny, until his console was snapped shut.

 

Kenma’s head shot up faster than he probably should have moved it. He glared at the man who smirked like a cat who had just gotten away with shoving things off of high places. 

 

“Playing on such devices while driving can cause distractions leading to car accidents.” Kuroo stated assuredly.

 

“But I’m not even driving-”

 

“Well you should be. C’mon let’s get going before it gets any hotter out there.”

 

Unfortunately, Kenma had to arise from the incredibly comfy chair (he was pondering whether to get one for his desk at home...) to follow his temporary teacher into the blistering haze outside. On normal occasions, Kenma didn't know what the weather outside even was, and he considered that a  _ good _ day. Now he knew way more than he wanted to, and like every Wednesday this summer so far, there was so,  _ so _ , much regret. Kuroo tossed him a set of keys and he fumbled to catch them. The keys on the ring all looked the same, save for one large one that was awkward in the group of smaller keys. ‘ _ I totally understand, little guy. _ ’ Kenma thought as he unlocked the Prius.

 

Kenma put the car in reverse after meticulously checking all of his mirrors and adjusting his seat (which took a while considering he could not see above the dash upon getting in the car) and pulled out of the narrow parking spot. There were parked cars all around the parking space and Kenma had to constantly make sure he wasn't going to bump into any of them.

 

‘ _ It’s like they  _ want _ me to hit something’  _

 

The leather seats were toasting his behind and the steering wheel was frying his hand but he didn’t let that bother him. He cranked up the blessed A/C and exited the lot.

 

Kuroo was quiet and stayed so once they exited the parking lot. Not sure where exactly he was suppose to be going, Kenma headed on the normal route that Takeda had him follow. 

 

Driving alongside other cars was not as scary as it had been the first several times Kenma had driven, His mom told him that if he stayed in his lane then there was no problem. He would have brought up that accidents happen because other people  _ don't  _ stay in their lanes, but it would have been blatant that he was trying to find a reason to never have to step into another car ever again.

 

His driving instructor finally decided to do his job when they hit a red light. Kenma’s hands were sweating, a habit when he thought too much about what could happen. He should have been more focused on the road and the other drivers, the signs and the future lights but there was this nagging sense that every car could crash into him, every yellow light would turn red and he would run it and then he would be in trouble thus causing him to slow down prematurely  _ that  _ causing the cars behind him to honk and screech around him and it was too much noise and he just couldn't-

 

“So you like video games, huh.” The way he said it sounded like a conversation opener, the way people may try to start a business meeting with observations of the weather. The light turned green.

 

“Uh...yeah. I do.” Boy did he ever. His room was dedicated to various titles, he had game consoles generations behind and played them regularly. Kenma always kept up with the latest gaming gossip. Although he was reluctant to adopt the latest Pokémon game because it was an obvious ploy to get him outside and actually  _ doing  _ something, God forbid.

 

“Cool, cool. So I have this rogue game right? Something dungeon and I can't for the life of me beat it. Like I'm not even anywhere near the halfway point. Any tips?”

 

There wasn't much to go on. The game sounded like a member of the ‘Mystery Dungeon Series’ but they were all hard save for the newer ones. Another red light.

 

“Could you clarify? I think all of those in that series have subtly different strategies. For instance, Etrian Odyssey is more of a explore and mapping game and an older one, Shiren the Wanderer is more of a  rogue-like game with unpredictable battle outcomes-”

 

“Yeah! That sounds exactly like the one I've got. I borrow it from a friend thinking I'd be done with it by now, but man is that game  _ hard! _ ” The light changed into green and Kenma continued on, nodding his head in agreement. “I died within the first level and all my items disappeared. I only made it as far as the tenth floor before dying again! I decided to quit playing it.” 

 

All of Kenma’s experience with ‘Shiren the Wanderer’ was not as bad as Kuroo had described his. Kenma only died when he advanced to levels that were higher than his level or of starvation. He ended up beating the game in a week. Although Shouyou had said complained that the game was unreasonably difficult.

 

“Make a right turn at that light.” Kenma did so. “So? Any tips?”

 

Yeah. It seems like you aren’t making use of the multiple storage locations. Try collecting as much stuff as you can and put them in each save point. So you have enough space for food and scrolls in your pack. Also you’ll have items for the next run of the game.”

 

”Huh.” Kuroo tapped his finger on the passenger side door. “What about that guy who always asks for food?”

 

“Ignore him.” Kenma made a U-turn to avoid getting on the interstate and headed back to the driving school per Kuroo's instructions. “Let him into your party for the XP and extra bodyguard but don’t feed him. He gets stronger and eventually will be able to hold his own.”

 

The car was quiet as Kenma made his way down the road. 

 

Now that he thought about it, thinking about gaming strategies took his mind off of all the bad things that could happen on the road. Not that he was distracted, but his mind wasn’t as clogged by his anxiety.

 

“Why don’t you have your license yet? You seem like a pretty good driver and much more careful than the rest of the people out here.”

 

It wasn’t that he couldn’t drive, Kenma  _ knew _ that he could control a car. But there were so many other factors to think about. The other drivers were the exact reason why he didn’t feel ready to drive on his own. He told Kuroo this.

 

Kenma could feel his temporary instructor watching him but he focused on the road.

 

“You know, I think driving is a lot like video games.” Kenma made a noise. “No, hear me out.”

 

“See, there are rules and tutorial-like signs all throughout your destination points. That sign you just passed-”

 

“The merge sign?”

 

“Yeah! Couldn’t you hear Navi?  _ Lane ends up ahead! Listen! Merge now, change lanes later! _ ” Kuroo pitched his voice to sound like the blue fairy and Kenma laughed.

 

“Road stops are like save points, other drivers are either NPCs or opponents. And depending on who is driving, you can have awesome background music or terrible tunes.” Kenma grinned and he could see Kuroo smile out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Driving is a lot like a game, Kenma. That’s why I think you are so good at it, excellent even. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone pay attention to the road as well as you do.”

 

“That’s cause I only have one life and no health replenishes.” Kenma pulled into the parking lot of the driving school and began resetting the seats of the car.

 

“Exactly.” Kenma handed Kuroo the keys and exited the car.

 

“I think you are a very informative NPC.” Kenma pulled out his 3DS and resumed his game play.

 

“....thanks?” Kenma nodded. 

 

They went inside and Kenma signed himself out. His mom was waiting and began to fuss over his hair.

 

“How was it?” she asked.

 

“I think he’s ready for the test, ma’am.” 

 

Kenma smiled softly. It couldn’t be that much harder that a video game after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the title is based off of Boys Republic's "Video Game". It had nothing to do with the story though. Shiren the Wanderer is under appreciated and I implore that you go play it right now o(〃＾▽＾〃)o


End file.
